The subject matter disclosed herein relates to reciprocating engines and, more specifically, to a camshaft of a reciprocating engine.
A reciprocating engine (e.g., an internal combustion engine such as a diesel engine or gas engine) combusts fuel with an oxidant (e.g., air) in a combustion chamber to generate hot combustion gases, which in turn drive a piston (e.g., reciprocating piston) within a cylinder. In particular, the hot combustion gases expand and exert a pressure against the piston that linearly moves the position of the piston from a top portion to a bottom portion of the cylinder during an expansion stroke. The piston converts the pressure exerted by the hot combustion gases (and the piston's linear motion) into a rotating motion (e.g., via a connecting rod and a crankshaft coupled to the piston) that drives one or more loads, for example, an electrical generator. The timing of combustion events affects the control of engine performance, including fuel combustion, engine durability, exhaust emissions, and so forth. Unfortunately, the vibration of larger engines with more cylinders may poorly affect the timing of combustion events.